Chapter 163: Total Beginner (4)The effect of the additional EXP gem was tremendous.
It didn"t take me long to reach level 589 after starting hunting at level 530.
“Really? I know you started late, but you have leveled up a lot. Well, I guess the Myongjin Group has helped you a lot. Then, what is your job and stats?”
“Wizard. Of course, my stats are concentrated in Intellect.”
I mentioned wizard instead of an ice-type wizard on purpose.
Even if I mentioned an ice-type wizard, there was zero possibility that he would suspect me as Asirante, but I still wanted to be as cautious as possible.
“What about your status window?”
“Just so-so. Not good enough to boast about.”
If I open my status window now, I would definitely shock him. And there are so many around me right now who are closely watching our conversation.
So, I talked with him as if I was just n.o.body.
Of course, I didn"t have to act so humbly in the presence of the sons and daughters of Korea"s top business groups, for the Myongjin Group was also one of them.
However, Cholmin did not ask about my status window or items anymore as if he realized I was not strong enough to draw his attention.
Anyway, when we all gathered together, we formed a party and moved into the Biting Wind Canyon.
[You have been invited to the hunting party.
-Currently, you have two IDs: Lumen and Asirante.
-You can select which ID to use.]
Of course, I chose Lumen.
‘Select Lumen."
They started attacking the monsters.
“Poison Arrow!”
“Bind them. Iron shackles!”
“Burn! h.e.l.lfire that burns even the soul!”
“The water spirit"s extreme tsunami!”
“Chain Lightning.”
“Fire Lance.”
First of all, everyone gathered here was within the top 1% of the Korean rankings.
Of course, there might be some who were a bit low level, but they had enough items to make up for it.
And they boasted of extraordinary damage.
But compared to me?
They were far behind me, of course. So much so that I would feel embarra.s.sed to be compared to them.
That"s why I could not attack, but that eventually drew the attention as 10, 20 and 30 minutes pa.s.sed. I was not doing anything while they were fully showing off their skills.
‘Man, let alone Mirae, is Myongjin even on par with Daesung or Kusan?”
‘You haven"t heard about him yet? Look at the 4th anniversary event. Among the immediate family members of the top five business groups, he was the only one who was not included in the squad.”
‘Isn"t it shameful for him to fall behind like that as someone who has the backing of Myongjin Group?"
‘Hey, he is looking at us. Be quiet. Remember he is from Myongjin.”
Somehow, I looked not suitable for inclusion in this group and they even looked down on me since I was doing nothing while others were busy showing off their excellent abilities.
So, I muttered just loud enough so I was overheard.
“d.a.m.n it. How can I dare to attack the monsters when my level is so shamefully low compared to them?”
In other words, I pretended to be a total beginner in their eyes.
The wedding ceremony of Daesung and Kusan.
Although not all those who attended were business conglomerates, most of them were wealthy enough not to be ignored by other groups.
Of course, the wealth was achieved by their parents and grandparents, not themselves.
Anyway, having such wealth, it was natural for them to pay considerable attention to how they look at others, aside from their high pride, because they were educated and lived like that until now.
So, when I talked carelessly as if I didn"t care about my dignity or pride, they became silent for a while, for Myongjin was a name they could not trifle with in Korea and I was a core family member of the Myongjin Group.
Given the reactions of those around me, it seemed that my pretense to be a total n.o.body paid off.
“Hmm. Shall we go a little further inside?”
“Alright. I think our hunting party is strong enough.”
“Great.”
Of course, I intended for this from the beginning.
Since most of them were busy showing off their skills, I could not help but stand out among them because I was doing nothing.
So, I deliberately pretended to be a total beginner so they would no longer pay attention to me.
But I didn"t like this situation. Like them, I also wanted to show off.
Besides, these guys were my peers who were the sons and daughters of my mother"s friends, so I was destined to be compared with them all the time. As a result, I was itching to show off too.
Moreover, I now know that I have the desire to win and show off in games, which I thought I didn"t have in the past because I"ve always regarded games as a refuge, haven or resting place. Back then, I was just pretending to be unambitious for fear of struggling within games as well, and not just reality. At that time I was not sure if I could s.h.i.+ne like my ID Lumen represented, no matter how hard I struggled. But now I can. My ID is already s.h.i.+ning.
Of course, my s.h.i.+ning ID is not Lumen, but Asirante. But in the end, Asirante is still me.
At that moment, I observed them work together to hunt the monsters in the Biting Wind Canyon.
Ice Storm?
Well, I was confident of killing all the monsters instantly in this canyon with Pouring Hail or Ice Rain instead of Ice Storm.
I let out a strained laughter while lowering my head so n.o.body could see me. It was ridiculous that I had to pretend to be useless like this. But I didn"t regret my action, for someday I would be able to reveal my ID before them proudly.
Somehow, I thought that the day was not far away.
Anyway, my pretense that I was not strong enough to hang out with them paid off. They no longer paid attention to me, so I followed them with a relaxed mood.
I thought I fooled everyone completely until someone said something behind me.
“You did not have to go as far as that, did you?”
I knew who was speaking since only Bora followed behind me from the beginning.
“…”
At the moment, I was speechless.
As a matter of fact, it is really hard for the core members of the top business groups to lie since they would disgrace their family members if found out. So, no one other than Bora doubted me.
“Because that is the truth…” I replied, stiffening my face to show as little expression as possible.
However, it seemed she expected my reply.
“Well, you may be right, Juyoung. But even if what you said is true, you know well what it means, right?”
“Of course. But I don"t think I can disgrace Myongjin anymore than I already have.”
I turned and opened my mouth, staring into her eyes.
“…” This time, Bora didn"t reply.
Everybody knows that I was the only one among the lineal descendants of the top five groups Mirae, Myongjin, Daesung, Kusan, and Daeyu, who was not included in the elite squad partic.i.p.ating in the 4th anniversary event.
Of course, I partic.i.p.ated as a member of the Daeyu Guild under the name of Asirante.
In any case, it seemed that this time my answer satisfied her, given that she didn"t respond to me at all. And I didn"t say anymore.
But there was something that bothered me, namely her words ‘you may be right, Juyoung."
Like the others here, she also needed to totally believe my words. But I didn"t want to make any bigger trouble, so I didn"t mention it anymore.
That day pa.s.sed like that, with the rumors about Juyoung Hong being a total beginner despite receiving a lot of help as a lineal descendant of the Myongjin Family widely spreading.
At the Sabre Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat the next day.
“Ice Storm! Pouring Hail!”
Puck! Puck!
Pitter-Patter! Pitter-Patter!
“Kuuuuuuung!”
“Kheeeeeek!”
My immediate goal was level 600.
Since I was about to reach it, I accessed the “Revival Legend” in the morning as soon as I woke up, and moved to the Sabre Steel Tooth Tiger Habitat to begin hunting.
Of course, there was some noise in the hunting ground when I got there.
There were close to 20 men there, and some of them naturally liked to talk about rumors about me. Moreover, the rumors began to s...o...b..ll to the point that I was just a total idiot who didn"t know my own place.
Normally, I would have been very embarra.s.sed and would have some strategy to quell the rumors for fear that my family members might hear them.
However, the rumors did not influence me to change my att.i.tude at all, not to mention the att.i.tudes of my father, mother, brother, and sister.
My sister even teased me.
[Super Beauty: Lol. Our newbie, Juyoung. Do you want me to help you level up?]
Of course, I was too high level for my sister to help me.
It"s me who has to help her level up.
But neither my sister nor anyone else in my family asked for my help because all of them wanted me to go beyond level 700 and reach level 1200 as soon as possible.
And I was quick-witted enough to understand what her joke meant.
Anyway, I let the rumors about me go in one ear and out the other.
Instead, I focused on hunting harder.
[You have leveled up.]